RIT Announces Winners of SpiRIT Writing Contest for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

Prizes Include Career Exploration Camp Scholarship

Rochester Institute of Technology has announced the winners of its second annual SpiRIT Writing Contest for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

First place in the 11th grade category are Zachary Engstler of South Dakota School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Sacha Glasser of Pittsford Mendon High School in Pittsford, N.Y. Tenth-grade winners are Robert Dooling of Burke High School in Omaha, Neb., and Michael Sprouse from Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Hampton, Va.

Winners received their choice of a scholarship and travel expenses to Explore Your Future (EYF), RIT’s summer career exploration program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, or a cash prize and an all-expenses-paid visit to RIT.

Students worked with their teachers to submit a portfolio of essays or creative pieces, demonstrating their writing skills. The subjects of the winning writing pieces ranged from playwright Arthur Miller to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

“I can’t stress enough the importance of good writing skills,” said Kathleen Eilers-Crandall, NTID associate professor of English, and one of the judges in the SpiRIT Writing Contest. “The beauty of this competition is that it allows students to focus on an area of strength and see the rewards that are possible.”

Deadline for submitting writing portfolios for next year’s SpiRIT Writing Contest is March 1, 2008. For more information, visit www.rit.edu/NTID/WritingContest.

RIT is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging technology, fine and applied arts, and for providing unparalleled support services for students with hearing loss. RIT is home to NTID where more than 1,100 students with hearing loss from around the world study, live and socialize with 14,400 hearing students on RIT’s Rochester, N.Y., campus. For more information, visit www.ntid.rit.edu.